How long to get a GP appointment in your part of Scotland?

[Stroopwaffels]

Just phoned the GP, need an appointment to discuss my HRT which is not working any more, I am not sleeping, anxious and just feel awful. No it's not a life and death emergency, but the first routine appointment I could get was 27 September. 15 days.

Large suburban Glasgow practice. (And before anyone asks - no, there is no e-consult, no online, no video calling. You phone in the morning and sit in the queue). This isn't sustainable, is it?

We’re about 10 days here too. It’s ridiculous the books are that filled up this far in advance. I don’t get it! We have the option to phone up every single morning and check for a cancellation - unbelievable.

We can't book appointments in advance. You have to phone in the morning for an appointment that day. I have never got through. Our surgery have recently extended their catchment area, so they now cover 2 whole villages and a new housing estate.

For my DDs perforated eardrum I had to call 111 instead.

We have to phone in the morning and they give you an appointment for that day. If no appointments left you phone back the next day or get a phone appointment.

Telephone consultation - 3 to 5 days; in person appointment 10- 15 days , could be earlier if triaged.
West Aberdeenshire

Your surgery needs an update. Mine, also Glasgow, does the whole online thing. I've always had a same day response (admittedly it's always been a same-day need, and I've not always needed to have f2f).

The NHS isn't completely broken.

You phone at 8am and get a same day telephone appointment. If you need to be seen it's either same day or the next day depending on urgency.

If it’s serious they will see you that day, my son is asthmatic they will aleays see him if I ask them to. Last time resulted in hospital admission. My other son was seen same day few weeks ago as an emergency also ended in hospital they are very nice and very good.

For Normal appointments you phone at 8am they are really nice and helpful if you need to be seen sooner they will do their best to accommodate. I’ve never had any complaints about them. Practise nurse is a bit odd but fine enough. Stirling - no online except for prescriptions.

Routine appointments are released on a Monday 8am for the following week. I called on a Tuesday and got an appointment for the following Wednesday as they still had a few left but otherwise I would have had to wait until the following Monday to try again, or call every morning for an appointment that day which is really supposed to be for things that can't wait. I suppose at some point a routine might become more urgent though.

What gets me is the pressure they then put onto a Monday morning where you have a higher rate of "urgent" calls after a weekend combined with everyone trying to book a routine for the following week. Why not release the routines on a Tuesday or Wednesday?

I'm not a regular attendor though, that was my first appointment in at least 10 years so I can't really say what is normal in terms of appointment availability.

We have no trouble getting appointments. We just ring when we need one and they see us that day or the next.
They have a lot of phone appointments if people want them.
You can choose a phone appointment or face to face.
There are never more than two people in the waiting room at a time.
Small village in Argyll.

No online booking.

Edinburgh here and we have to phone every day at a specific time to even get a future appointment. Recently it was 3 weeks for me to get a telephone appointment.

No online booking

We are similar for non urgent issues but if urgent usually seen that day. Kids always seen same day. Also Glasgow suburbs. I’m happy with that, but I’m sorry you are miserable and having to wait for help 💜

No I;m not a regular attender either. I haven't actually been seen in person for about 18 months and that was for a routine blood test (and the phlebotomist not the GP). Most of the HRT stuff I have had to manage myself by researching what I want, and telling them to prescribe it and to be fair, they generally do.

All of the GP practices round here seem to have the same system of booking appointments, it's a regular moan on the local facebook group. In the 15 years we've lived here, the number of new houses which have been built is massive and this is clearly putting pressure on the system, even before Covid. I have a private consult booked at the Nuffield but not until the end of October.

As many PP, can get same day telephone consult and then if GP needs to see in person, that's usually within a day or so too. Have to phone at 8.30am or 1.30pm to make appointment.
Suburban Glasgow too.

Can’t get an appointment here, am in Aberdeen. Phone just cuts off, has been doing so since March, and the online appointment system is non-functional, permanently shows full for the next two months. Big sign up at the desk saying ‘Do NOT request appointments.’ They’re also closed to new patient applications. We’ve been using private services for chiropodist and gynae, am at least a grand down. God knows what we’ll do if there’s something with one of the kids that can’t be dealt with by a similar specialist or requires immediate attention, it’s a low key background worry.

5 weeks for a non urgent appointment.
Can phone at 8am and 2pm to possibly get urgent same day call back, which can result in being seen in person.
Edinburgh

Utterly impossible, even when you have been told to make an appointment, it tends to be at least 3 weeks before you can get one. The surgery is like an impenetrable fort. You can’t ring, you just get told to go to the chemist or dial 111 instead.

It’s like something out of Call the Midwife

No online booking at all. If it's urgent they will usually fit you in that day but you have to phone at 8am and hold. Not great for people trying to get to work/kids out to school. Routine appointments are normally 2 weeks from when you call (you can't book any further in advance than this). Also a suburban Glasgow practice. I really wish they would introduce some kind of online booking option but on the whole it's not too bad.

South of Scotland, rural practice. Between 7-10 days for an in person non urgent. Same day for telephone appointment.

Also same day emergency appointments.

East central Scotland - need to phone at 8.30, and everything is telephone appointment initially but called in if need be. Very few advance bookings, need to be very determined and push for one but usually around 3 weeks in advance, even then it's for a call. Calls very annoying as not given even an approximate time, so if you have a job where you can't take calls it's pretty much tough - I did raise this and was told "most people are able to prioritise their health" which I agree if it's acute, but if it's an ongoing issue most people won't be able to hang around all day at the end of the phone.

We have to phone at 8am and we get an appointment for the same day. There are a small amount of bookable appointments (not sure how long the wait is for them, I've never used them) and phone appointments (which I have used) are scheduled for a day or so later, with a specific time given (which they stick to, give or take, depending on what's happening with other patients). I'm really pleased with our GP practice, it's very well run and managed.

My last 3 appointments were phone appts. All within an hour of me booking them.

In Call the Midwife, Dr. Turner attends all patients, 24 hrs a day, no matter what's wrong with them.

About 3 weeks here. North of Scotland.
Still having to go through the pointless triage system. Speak to a receptionist to tell them your symptoms so confidentiality is out of the window, get offered a phone call by doctor who then says you need a face to face so you can repeat the same conversation for the 3rd time. Takes the time of 2 doctors to deal with one issue.
Oh, and you can only speak about one symptom. What if your symptoms are related or all point to the same condition?

E Consult works well here in Aberdeenshire. Hospital waiting lists are dire though and I have to keep going private but the GP you can see the same day if they triage you as needing fast help.